WEEKLY HAPPENINGS - STARTED 10-7-24

My latest Halloween Jigsaw Puzzle done on my iPad. I thought I would share a few between now and the 31st.

I have been letting my relatives and friends know about these posts, as it is a good way of keeping them in touch with our goings on, and they are letting me know how much they are enjoying them, even the more mundane things. I can’t say for sure if they will be a weekly journal, but thank you for letting me know you enjoy them. I very much appreciate the affirmation. I don’t expect everyone to be interested, so by all means feel free to stop here. It has turned into a missive but won’t always be as long.

This week’s weather:

Monday, 10-7-24: I forgot to write anything down and it must have been a quiet day. After a few days when I go back, I have a hard time remembering what we did. It certainly wasn't too exciting! I usually try to jot something down at the end of the day, and later fill in the blanks.

Tuesday, 10-8-24: instead of waiting for Wednesday we went to a different fast-food restaurant today instead. It is one we only go to once in a while. Our usual place wasn’t open at 11.30 a.m., and there were signs on the door saying they were experiencing technical issues. I am assuming their wi-fi was down, maybe. We drove to the other fastfood restaurant and even though there weren't a lot of cars in the parking lot, we always use the drive-thru. The food was very disappointing. I won't mention their name as I realize everyone has their bad day. We will try again but it won’t be for a while. We prefer our regular place.

On our way home we passed the mural I mentioned last week. We always seem to be driving by, and I have said many times I would like to take a closer look. I had been telling Gregg about Linda's post, and he said this would be a good time to stop to take photos. It was a lovely sunny day. We walked up and down looking at each painting. The photo above shows the other end of the mural away from the the gothic dog couple (below). That's the one we can see quite clearly passing by on our way home.  The Gothic Dogs are my favorite...

but Gregg says this is his, and it's a close one as I really do like both. You can just about see the shape of the bricks that have been painted over.

I thought the next one was very clever how he had continued the mural to include the back door of the building. 

I would love to know the story of the cow on top of the roof in this painting. There was an old barn we occasionally passed several miles away. It's another place we drove by if we are on a mini road trip. On the side is a cow and a dancing pig. It is the Free/Hawkins Barn in Nokesville, on Rt. 28. This is an old photo I took of the original barn many years ago. We were very used to seeing it and as you can see it was falling into a state of disrepair even back then. One day we were shocked to find that it had been completely demolished. But it has a happy ending.

You can see its story on Facebook at this link. It has its own page.  The story of the original barn is this:

Free/Hawkins Barn - Route 28 - Nokesville, Virginia

Also known as the "Pig/Cow Barn," the Free/Hawkins Barn was built in 1922 by William R. Free. His son-in-law, Thomas M. Hawkins, Sr., had the barn painted green and yellow to resemble John Deere equipment. In 1985 several students from Brentville District High School painted the pig and cow mural on the barn when they entered a contest for outdoor paintings sponsored by a Maryland radio station. The mural won second place in the contest and has become an iconic symbol of the area's agricultural heritage. The Nokesville Barn Restoration Project seeks to restore the barn."

Years passed and the mural, like the barn, fell into further decline. The Nokesville Barn Restoration Committee had hoped to restore it. However, when we drove by one day we were sad to see that it had gone. We had become so used to seeing it. At the time we didn't realize that plans were under way to rebuild the barn. One day we were once again driving along the road and were greeted with a brightly painted barn and an equally brightly painted mural with the same design. The owner had contacted the original artist and asked if she would be willing to repaint the mural. She agreed and the whole story is in the article here. So, does this cow on top of the barn have anything to do with this story? I have no clue as I could find no connection online, but I had a very enjoyable time looking everything up, and another thank you to Linda for starting me on my discovery journey. Always fun to find these things out.

On her blog post Linda identified the artist as Mark Paul Derek, popularly known as Madsteez, and his name can also be seen on the first painting of the Gothic Dogs. I looked up his website and the first paragraph reads, “Mark Paul Derek, aka MADSTEEZ, is known for his vivid, large-scale, multi-layered paintings, where strange figures are integrated into abstract landscapes. His artistic approach is influenced by being almost blind in one eye, where he sees only abstractions and lines of colors, mostly reds, purples and oranges, which appear frequently in his work.” You can read all about this talented artist here.

Here is the 29 Diner above which I mentioned last week, and no idea about the critter driving the corn cob car. Below are two dinosaurs. I just put them together for reference as they are not actually placed together. There have been dinosaur fossils found all over Virginia and you can read all about that at this link. 

Millions of years ago, the Piedmont area in Virginia (we live in that area) was similar to a beach, as it was situated near the shoreline of a shallow sea, with sediments deposited over time creating the current landscape of the Piedmont region; this occurred during the periods when the sea levels were significantly higher than today, with the coastline extending further inland than it does now. There is a kitschy dinosaur park about an hour away. We have never been to it but it has large dinosaur figures with information boards next to them, a nod to what has been discovered over many years. I have read that their dinosaurs don't exactly match a real dinosaur but people with kids seem to enjoy it. There is an interesting link here that shows the different regions of Virginia.

And that's the end of this artists wonderful mural. Gregg took the above photo as he was practicing the panoramic feature on his iPhone. He says he needs a lot of practice as it shows a curve in the wall when it is actually straight, but I like it.

Wednesday, 10-9-24: a stay-at-home day for me while Gregg meets up with son for a trip into Maryland. He has some business out there and asked if his Dad would like to go along for the ride. While son is busy, he enjoys looking around the area and he gets his exercise. (I am always invited but I am having my peace and quiet right now, and I always think it's great for them to have father/son time.) They meet up later, have lunch somewhere and enjoy chatting on the way home. We always say the fun is in the journey. 

As for me, I have had a breakfast of 2 Weetabix - an old childhood favorite from the UK that we can get at one of the local supermarkets. We looked at the pasty shop last week, but they didn't have any. I usually top my breakfast with almond milk, a cup of blueberries and several raw almonds. I will potter around until the man gets home and will enjoy hearing about his day.

It looks like I will be adding my meals in here if and when I think about it. It is a good record.

For lunch I fixed myself another favorite, a cup of sweet potato mash with nothing added when mashing. I put it in a bowl and over the top, 1/2 cup Bushes baked beans and a poached egg. It didn't feel like I was eating just healthy, it tasted great and once again, not everyone's cup of tea I know.

Dinner was the last of our homemade soup in a cup.

I enjoyed my day that consisted of tidying up a bit, reading a bit, blogging a bit, more tidying up, doing some laundry, blogging another bit and that was my day.

Gregg arrived home and we chatted for about an hour, and then off to bed.

Thursday, 10/10/24: Not much going on today. The dear man went to the dentist and was told he had to have a crown. The dentist said it could wait until his next appointment in January. My appointment is next Tuesday, hopefully just a cleaning. 

Friday, 10-11-24: We left the house early in the morning. About 40 minutes from home in a very busy area with several lanes and lots of traffic, we noticed smoke some distance up the road. At first we thought it was a vehicle that had a blown head gasket. By the time we caught up, we saw it was a work truck that had pulled off onto a parallel side road, one we had also taken to avoid him but he obviously needed to get off the main drag quickly and got there first. The smoke was billowing black and thick. We watched two young men ahead of us, riding a motorized scooter only designed for one. They decided to pass through the sooty cloud and we watched them disappear momentarily.  We slowly edged our way passed the truck, keeping a wary eye, and we soon caught up with them. Their clothes seemed to have swallowed some of the smoke, as plumes floated around them in a swirl, and drifted upward for several feet. One had pulled his lapel over to cover his face. It was a strange sight.  I couldn't see any flames from the truck. We had slowed down and were prepared to stop to make sure the man had gotten out of his cab okay, but sirens were loud. We saw flashing lights and two firetrucks and an ambulance approaching. This side road was narrow and we got out of the way. We knew the driver was about to get all the help he needed. We returned 30 to 40 minutes later on our way back home. No smoke and the truck had been removed with no signs of a fire. Glad that it was taken care of so quickly, and always thankful to our first responders. The driver would have a story to tell when he got home that night.

I took a couple of photos coming home. I was just saying that there weren't a lot of Halloween Decorations when we came across this huge thing. It was at least 15 feet tall! We had already passed by and Gregg, bless him, turned around, did a loop and pulled up alongside.

This would be a bit scary for smaller kids walking by. It would be startling for an adult if they weren’t expecting it. Gregg says he has seen them being sold at the Home Depot. Our house is and will be unadorned at Halloween. Just not into it but I appreciate the work people do when decorating their front yards, thinking in particular of the one around the corner and up the road. I have shared those photos already.

Saturday, 10-12-24: It's already mid-afternoon. Gregg is watching a baseball game, The Detroit Tigers and The Cleveland Guardians. He just stopped mid-sentence so it must be an interesting game. I am enjoying having it in the background as I hear him say, "Look at this?" and I dutifully looked. After 49 years of marriage he's still instructing me on all the moves, and we watch the replays together. I actually do enjoy this and find myself slowing down as I type. It's just not in my DNA. I had a Dad who used to say, "Young ladies do not discuss or play sports!" What can I say? Dad was a wonderful, loving father but was brought up with Victoriana in his blood, and this is going back over 55+ years. When my sister came home and told him she had joined her work place’s women’s football team (that would be soccer over here), he raised an eyebrow but the dye was cast and he knew times were changing. My sister was a girlie girl and it surprised us all, but she had a lot of fun with her friends. I will have to mention that to my brother-in-law and get his take on it as they met at the same firm. It reminds me of the movie ‘League of Our Own’, when the Tom Hanks character said to the young woman, "There's no crying in baseball!" as she was sobbing. At least the girls were playing baseball! Different times then too. Funny what pops into your head. I haven’t thought about this in years.

Sunday, 10/13/24: son came over as he usually does on a Sunday morning. He drops our daughter-in-law off first, the time he stays depending on when she finishes. It is a win-win and we get his company for two or three hours. It wasn’t long after he left that he gave us a quick jingle to let us know he had seen the tall Halloween figure we mentioned in passing. He had also seen other decorations that must have been put up that morning. He said, “You know, your neighborhood has way too many scary figures for little kids.” We had to agree. The figures have become larger than life, and there are more of them. They seem to tower over us and some reach the second floor windows. They certainly would cast strange shadows at night.  Maybe it is time for me to say Bah humbug but hide your eyes kiddos! 👀 

A couple of hours after he left, we drove over to one of the ice cream places for a Sunday treat. We reminded ourselves we have had a pretty healthy week food wise. Well, except for the trip to the fast food restaurant. Yes I am justifying and yes it’s a long journey! My order was my old standby, a hot fudge sundae, and Gregg gets a marshmallow cream sundae.  

I can hear the sounds of people mowing their lawns in the distance.  The weather was gorgeous today.  Sunny and 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.667 degrees Celsius.

I need to write birthday cards for friends later. I should have mailed them yesterday as it is Columbus Day and Indigenous People’s Day.  No mail until Tuesday. 

All for now. As I started off with a Halloween picture, I will end with one. 

WEEKLY HAPPENINGS STARTING MONDAY, 10-1-24

First of all, I want to say that I am thinking about all those who have been dealing with these hurricanes. I've been watching the news, and it is horrific. We have friends in the affected areas, and I take very much to heart Sandra's comment today. We know her as the MadSnapper of course. My dear friend, I am hoping to hear from you very soon. It's a scary thing what you and so many are going through. I wish I could do more to help. If anyone else reads this and are in those areas, please let us know you are doing okay. I say this realizing that phones will be down.

I have been writing today's post and am trying to keep it upbeat. At the end of my profile I say this: I hope you can come here as a place of peace, find something that will take your mind off things for a little while and give you smile. I truly do mean this. 

So here are this week's past happenings. I can't say I will be doing them every week as I don't want to bore you with the mundane, especially with everything else going on.

Monday, 9-30-24. Our son came over for a while. We feel very fortunate he and our daughter-in-law only live 12 miles away, which means we see them often. We chatted for a couple of hours and then back off to work he went. 

I opened the door in the early a.m. to let some fresh air in. This is what greeted me. I cropped the close-up picture from the one below. It is a Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys). Sorry if you are not too fond of them but everything seems to interest me in the insect world, and I automatically reach for my cell phone. 

I thought I recognized it and went outside to take a closer look. I didn't realize they were still around. Just like the grasshopper the other day, it didn't stay for long. I read that with the onset of the cooler temperatures they will try to come inside. There is a link here with more information.

Tuesday, 10-1-24 (1st day of October): We usually go out once a week to eat lunch, normally from a fastfood place taking turns between McDonald’s or Chick-fil-A, unless it fits into our once a month at the Bahn Mi Sandwich shop. This week's food treat however, was a little different and came early, as we were at our last get together only a few days ago at the pub/restaurant for lunch, which was a treat from our son for loaning him our car for a couple of days when he had a problem with his. Today Gregg and I had a car picnic in the parking lot outside The Pure Pasty Company in Vienna. We have been coming here for years as they opened in 2010. It was raining when we first arrived.

Gregg went inside. There is a small seating area but they have very steep steps that go down into the shop, and steps and I have a thing going on right now. There is an open elevator but I have never used it. I know it is safe but I took one look at it long ago and said no, I don’t think so. That’s just me. I do think it’s great that they have one for those who might need it. It looks big enough for a wheelchair, and definitely big enough for a child’s stroller. The shop is brightly lit, nicely painted and kept very clean. There are maybe three tables very close together, with a much larger open area where you can see the pasties being made. Then there is a longish narrow area with the counter on one side to take purchases, and it also has a large, covered display case with several different varieties of pasties made that morning. There is a small freezer on the far end where you can help yourself, and a back wall with shelves of goods for more purchases. Behind the counter is a large oven where they bake the pasties and the smell alone would be enough to draw people in. They should bottle the smell and sell it! Hands down the best I have tasted since Mum used to get them from a local pasty shop in town when I was a kid.

We recently learned the owner also owns The Hawk and Griffin where we were a few days ago, and is only a little ways up the road from here. I am happy to give these two establishments our business. He opened up the pasty shop first, and then the pub/restaurant several years later. Both are outstanding!

We are not frequent visitors to either (not very close to our home) but a couple of times a year we make our way and pick up a few tasty treats. We eat one pasty each for our car picnic in the parking lot - deliberately missing breakfast in anticipation. I nibbled on one before remembering to take a photo.

We buy two more for our freezer. Once we arrived near closing time and they were all sold out of the traditional, which are the ones we always buy. That's why we always turn up at opening time now. Gregg was their first customer today. It was pouring with rain when he went inside but had stopped in time for him to walk back to the car. The shop is on the right where the Union Jack is flying. This is more of an alleyway between two busy roads. There is a bicycle shop one one side, out of sight on the right. The parking lot is on the left, also out of sight. There are a couple of more shops further along, one is a larger restaurant, but I can't remember what it sells.

As for our purchases, dear other half was looking forward to buying a jar of Branston Chutney, which he was introduced to on the British ship he was attached to when on an exchange tour with the Royal Navy in the mid ‘70s. That’s how I ended up here as we met during that time. He bought our drinks for the car picnic (a fizzy lemonade for me and a coca-cola for him), added cans of ready-made English Custard to go with a future dessert when we feel like it, a couple of Cadbury's chocolate bars (and you can probably guess who those were for. They always go lovely with a cup of coffee on the way back. We stop at the drive-thru and the next day I have the other one with my own fresh brew). Next, three packets of bangers (British sausages), which were in the freezer and were transferred to ours until ready to use. We won't have to go again for a while. As I said, it isn't exactly round the corner. The pasties when we bake one at home are big enough that we share, and along with a veggie salad makes for a lovely meal. Well that’s a ramble, are you still with me?  Saying that with a smile and hoping so.

I took a few photos on the way back home. This is a picture of the old 29 Diner in Fairfax. The mural is one I have been meaning to stop and take a photo of. This is from the road as we drove by. I never noticed before but the diner is featured in the third frame of the mural from the left. Hard to see, that's why I am going to park next time we go by. 

It had started to rain again and I don't like getting wet, truth be told. It never bothered me at one time but if I have a choice now, I will stay in the car. Also, it will be nice to get shots of the mural on a sunnier day.

We have only ever been to the diner once, many years ago, when it was still a popular place for the locals, and people driving by. Unfortunately, it had a serious fire two or three years back. We subsequently heard it had been sold but that was some time ago and the for-sale sign was still showing. We keep expecting it to be demolished, like a lot of the old buildings that fall into disrepair. However, we learned it had been renovated better than new after the fire. We are waiting to learn the next chapter.  It's an iconic building and has been in that spot for years, having been built in 1947. You can read all about it here.

This was a very interesting paint job. All expressions of art interest me and I would have liked to ask the owner about this one, but we were both making our way down the road and I quickly snapped a picture when I saw it (from the passenger seat. Gregg does most of the driving nowadays, and my cell phone is always at the ready).

Wednesday, 10-2-24: The first thing I did today was cut my finger. I had started to clear out one of the bottom kitchen cupboards. There was an attachment - a spare blade for our blender. As I was tidying up and I reached in, my finger brushed up against the blade. It normally has a glass container attached, which had fallen off. No stitches but a horrible feeling as I haven't done anything like this in a long time. I stopped to quickly wrap a tissue around my bleeding finger, get the antiseptic and a band aid, and sat down to gain my equilibrium. I will leave the tidy-up of that cupboard for another few days. Blade safely stored away so lightning won't strike in the same place twice. It was in one of those areas with appliances not needed every day. 

Gregg left early to go to the car dealership. We needed an oil change and as often happens, there were other things done. New rear brake pads, a new filter and they rotated the tires. We had the emission checked also and they replaced the PCV valve - whatever that is. The mechanic came in to see Gregg and asked him to go back as he wanted to show him something he found under the hood. Gregg was puzzled as this was the first time he had been invited into their garage section ever, and the other guys were smiling at him as he walked in. 

This is the text he sent and I got the full story when he arrived home:

“The service guy I deal with came in and said: let me show you something. And so, for the first time in 30 years they took me in the back where they work on the cars - impressive. And what a nice guy the mechanic was. What he wanted to show me was all the sunflower shells a squirrel had left in the engine, hundreds. Among other things they were in two of the filters which I had them replace. Always something - sort of funny though.”  

No photos, Gregg said I should have but was so taken aback at the sight. No problem I said, scroll down, lol!

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Da-da-da-dah!

Squirrel Reenactment!

Look at him?

Butter would not melt in that mouth. Most definitely not invited back! Keep your storage space elsewhere thank you very much!

How on earth did it store so many seeds without us knowing about it? The strange thing is I stopped feeding them just before the beginning of the summer, and I haven't fed them sunflowers in their shells for a couple of years as I buy the no-mess variety. I thought perhaps the squirrel had been making the rounds of the neighborhood bird feeders. Neither of us can understand how it got into the garage, as we keep the door down once the car is parked. Where there's a will, there's a way I guess, but we are still both scratching our heads. The last time we took the car to the dealership was five months ago, so this has happened during that time. Also, the car is driven every day. It's a complete mystery and the man will be checking under the hood a little more regularly he says.

Thursday, 10/3/24: Gregg met up with son and I happily stayed home. We have enjoyed our son’s company a lot this past week, once a week usually. They do the rounds of several places. I know I can go with them, but I would slow them down. I am not a big look-around-shop-places person (give me a garden or a trail through a wood, it’s a different story). Besides, I get focused on what I am doing and always say to the man as he walks through the door, that was fast, when actually it’s been hours. I get very focused on my tasks. Among other things, I finished a puzzle on my iPad. I have been working on it off and on for the last few days. I love doing puzzles.

More food talk: The boys had lunch at McDonalds. I fixed myself a fast lunch, a small bowl of noodles in broth, along with a spinach and veggie salad. Now enough of the food talk, except for what follows. Yes, it's a liar, liar pants on fire kind of a day today. 

Friday, 10/4/24: a very quiet day. Neither of us went anywhere and just pottered. Our main event was making soup for our dinner. We have an all-time favorite and this is the first we have made it since last winter. (I mentioned it yesterday). It wasn't really cold enough for soup, but the man says soup is okay anytime, especially his favorite. The photo is from that blog post. It is Cheesy Corn and Vegetable Chowder, recipe found originally in a Southern Living Annual Cookbook I have from 20 years ago. 

Saturday, 10/5/24 at 1.59 p.m: Another quiet morning and now Gregg is watching baseball and I am adding to my daily-doings. (We were going for a ride later but the day got away from us.) I can't remember what else we did tell you the truth.

Sunday, 10/5/24: Our son usually comes over on a Sunday morning. He stays until it is time to pick up our daughter-in-law. We talk about everything that is going on. Later that day they were out on a walk and sent me these photos.

As I made a quick bread this week, I did this picture on Copilot. My tastes tend to go to the old fashioned, and I often like to add a dog. I asked for a vase of sunflowers. They gave me several. Also, that contraption she is resting her dough on. It puzzled me. Maybe it is a way to size the dough. If it passes under the arc, it's the perfect size? These are the things I think about. Maybe it's just a hiccup with the AI. Ah well, what it is to have imagination with a touch of the inner child thing going on. 

This is my last picture and my daily happenings are done. There may be typos in here and disjointed sentences. I will correct any that I find later. My brain is in a bit of a fog today.

Thank you for sticking through with me to the end my friends, and I hope your week is going well. I am wishing each and every one of you only the very best, with extra special thoughts for anyone who needs them.